For transport purposes, cable drums are usually placed inside respective enclosures so as to protect them against possible impacts and bad weather. In conventional manner, such drums have an axial opening (sometimes referred to as the “eye” of the drum) in which it is possible to receive a shaft. On reaching a site of use, the drum is extracted from its enclosure and a shaft is placed in the axial opening of the drum. The drum is then placed on a support which holds the shaft so as to keep it substantially horizontal. The cable can then be unwound by causing the drum to turn about the shaft.
In order to avoid extracting the drum from the transport enclosure when it is desired to unwind the cable, an improvement has consisted in incorporating a drum support within the enclosure and in placing a shaft in the eye of the drum, with the support holding the shaft so as to enable the drum to be rotated about the shaft. However, the weight of the drum and the cable is then supported by the shaft and by the support, and it can happen that the support (often made of plastics material) is broken while the drum is being transported, due to the mechanical forces exerted on the support, e.g. because of jolting while the drum is being transported.